The Red Planet is surprisingly colorful, new Mars photos...

1of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

2of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

3of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

4of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

5of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

6of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

7of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

8of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

9of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

10of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

11of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

12of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

13of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

14of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

15of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

16of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

17of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

18of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

19of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

20of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

21of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

22of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

23of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

24of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

25of25New photos published in December that were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

More than a dozen photos taken thousands of feet above the Martian surface show how eerily Earth-like yet pleasantly alien Mars exactly is.

The photos were taken onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been transmitting photos of the fourth planet's surface back to Earth since 2006.

A special camera developed by the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, called the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE for short), is an "indispensable instrument" used by other scientists to determine landing sites and learn more about the planet.

Jay R. Jordan is the Houston Chronicle’s breaking news reporter for Chron.com. He was raised in Montgomery, Texas, and attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. There, he led the student newspaper that helped the university win the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s coveted director’s trophy two years in a row. From Sam Houston State University, he interned at Community Impact Newspaper before working as breaking news reporter for The Courier of Montgomery County. He has worked in the Houston Chronicle newsroom since January 2018.